Enthusiastic students from groups 5 and 6 of the Christian primary school Koning Willem Alexander in Uithuizen were allowed to ask heart surgeon Massimo Mariani (58) anything about it. He came by to talk about better health. From heart valves to bruises: Mariani’s expertise was put to the test.
After one of the students has been appointed as a doctor’s assistant, complete with a real UMCG jacket, the children can fire away with their questions. A girl in a brown sweater quickly raises her finger as high as possible: “How does a heart beat?” At the same time, the other side of the classroom asks: “Why do some people have a pacemaker?”
In addition, the children tell a lot about their own experiences: “I was once taken in the ambulance because I had a very high fever,” says a boy in a pink shirt. Mariani then responds: “Oops, that’s not so nice. Fortunately, it turned out well, because you are here now.”
Mariani is visiting Uithuizen because this week is the Week for More Healthy Years. With the aim of talking about health and a healthy lifestyle. That is why doctors from the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) and Ommelander Hospital Groningen (OZG) come on a ‘date’ at primary schools throughout Groningen to talk about their profession.
The large doctor’s case
Mariani takes a few instruments out of his large doctor’s case. This way the children can see what a heart valve and suture look like in real life. He also has a device in which students can remove paper blood clots from a plastic heart in a mirror image. They do this with long gripping sticks. “It was really easy,” says student Meave Loryn Staal (9). Mariani was also impressed by this: “The children have such good hand-eye coordination.”
V truck driver
Mariani wants to make children enthusiastic about healthcare. According to him, there are enough doctors, but far too few nurses. “There is clearly already enthusiasm among the children, especially when you look at how much they ask about the heart and transplants.” Only when asked whether the students also want to become heart surgeons, not many children raise their hands. Staal found it easy to grab, but is surgery something for her? “I would rather be a zookeeper.”
Hanna Komduur (9) also liked that the doctor came by. “Yesterday I watched a film about doctors.” She found that interesting. But later she would rather become a truck driver. She thinks twelve years of study is a bit too long.